China has long been one of Germany's key partners for promoting climate change mitigation. Through the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) is financing numerous projects to help the country steer its economy onto a low-carbon development path. An additional EUR 4.5 million is being provided by BMUB to expand the existing Sino-German climate dialogue.

Within the context of a new project, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is continuing its support for the bilateral climate working group (Klima-AG) of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and BMUB. The project is providing organisational support to the high-level policy dialogue, while also offering training activities and expert advisory support on issues related to climate change mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change. In the future, the project will also advise the National Energy Administration (NEA) on expanding decentralised renewable energy. In particular, efforts will focus on improving the legal and institutional framework for decentralised renewable energies, and expanding their usage in Chinese cities. The project is involving German industry, municipal representatives and other key German players in the exchange with Chinese partners.

Within the context of the IKI, China is one of the most important partner countries. Since 2008, BMUB has supported 30 bilateral projects with a total of over EUR 68 million. Focus areas include the transformation to a low-carbon economy, energy efficiency programmes, sustainable transport systems and training for key stakeholders on environmental and climate issues.